In the Moment:
Michael Frye's Landscape Photography Blog
by Michael Frye | May 9, 2009 | Photography Tips, Yosemite Photo Conditions
Last night I joined the throngs in Cook’s Meadow to photograph the lunar rainbow on Upper Yosemite Fall. There were at least 100 photographers around the meadow, and probably many more at the bridge below Lower Yosemite Fall. Like Horsetail Fall in February, lunar rainbows have become a photographic phenomenon. Until recently the most popular place was at Lower Yosemite Fall, but since Don Olson published specific times for seeing the “moonbow” from the Sentinel Bridge in Cook’s Meadow this spot has attracted lots of photographers. The big advantage is that it’s dry! At the bridge below Lower Yosemite Fall it’s impossible to keep mist off the front of the lens.
You can’t really see a lunar rainbow with the naked eye. Our eyes don’t render color very well in the dark, so at best you can see a bright arc and maybe a hint of color. But the color is there, and film or digital sensors capture it well. One of the reasons that more people haven’t photographed lunar rainbows from Cook’s Meadow in the past is that you can’t really see it from there. With film you’d just have to guess about the position and wait to find out whether you were right. With digital sensors it’s easy to just take a photo and see the position of the rainbow.
Last night the moon was bright enough that I could see the rainbow fairly well. Along with everyone else I watched it move down the fall as the moon rose. When the rainbow fell too low, most people packed up (it was 11:30 p.m. after all), but I followed the moon westward and saw an even more vivid rainbow from near the Yosemite Chapel. This photograph was made from that spot. Rainbows form a circle around a spot opposite the light source—sun or moon. Lunar rainbows can be seen on any waterfall that gets moonlight if you position yourself properly. In fact I photographed a lunar rainbow on Castle Geyser in Yellowstone many years ago. Maybe I’ll put that image in another post.
Long exposures with digital cameras can create lots of noise, but newer models handle this pretty well. You’re usually better off making a long exposure at a low ISO than a shorter exposure with a higher ISO. But with lunar rainbows you don’t want to make the exposure too long or the bands of color will blend together. I used a six-minute exposure at f/4 and 100 ISO for the image above. Trying to lighten a dark image will exaggerate noise, so it’s best to make the photograph as light as possible without overexposing it. Don’t rely on just how it looks on your LCD screen. Since it’s dark, the screen will look bright even if the image is underexposed. Use your histogram.
Having said that, a nighttime photograph shouldn’t be too bright. You don’t want it to look like it was taken under midday sunlight. I actually darkened this image—especially the sky—in software to give it more of a nighttime feeling.
by Michael Frye | May 8, 2009 | Announcements, Workshops
Last week 12 people joined me, along with my assistants Mike Osborne and Robert Eckhardt, for the Spring Yosemite Digital Camera Workshop sponsored by The Ansel Adams Gallery. This image of Bridalveil Fall was made by participant Brenda Nehring on Wednesday. On Friday an unusually potent spring storm arrived, but the wet weather actually provided some great photo opportunities. Despite or maybe because of the rain we had a great time. I’ll be posting more photos from the workshop on my web site soon.
by Michael Frye | May 5, 2009 | Yosemite Photo Conditions
The dogwoods in Yosemite Valley are nearing their photographic peak. Although some are still in that green stage, most are now in full bloom, yet haven’t leafed out yet. I made the photo above last Friday near the Ahwahnee Hotel.
The waterfalls got a big boost from Friday’s night’s rain. Although the predicted minor flooding never materialized, the falls and meadows are full of water. In short, it’s a great time for photography in the Valley.
by Michael Frye | Apr 27, 2009 | Announcements
I’ve been getting lots of questions recently about my book The Photographer’s Guide to Yosemite. It’s been out of print for several months, but is being reprinted and should be available again in late May. However, The Ansel Adams Gallery in Yosemite just received 25 copies, so if you call them at 209-372-4413 you may be able to order one before they run out.
On a different note, the dogwoods in Yosemite Valley are progressing slowly because of cool weather. You can find some in full bloom around the Ahwahnee Hotel and old Rivers campgrounds, as well as near Gates of the Valley (Valley View). Many more are still in the “green” stage.
by Michael Frye | Apr 24, 2009 | Yosemite Photo Conditions
The dogwoods in Yosemite Valley haven’t fully bloomed yet, but they’re progressing. Many are now in their “green” stage, where they sport greenish-yellow blossoms. These will change to white soon, although I don’t know exactly how soon. Cooler weather has descended on the Sierra and is expected to linger through next week, so that could slow things down a bit, but I would still expect most of the valley dogwoods to be in full bloom a week from now.
by Michael Frye | Apr 23, 2009 | Advanced Techniques, Photography Tips
Everyone has heard of Photoshop. It’s permeated our culture deeply enough to become both a noun and a verb, as in, “She Photoshopped a telephone pole out of the picture.” So when photographers first dive into the digital world they naturally think of Photoshop or it’s baby sister, Photoshop Elements, for their image-editing software.
Until recently there wasn’t much choice. But in the last few years the landscape has changed, and photographers have many other options. One of the best of these new tools is Lightroom. Actually the full name is Adobe Photoshop Lightroom—it’s made by the same people who make Photoshop. Yet despite the name Lightroom seems to be off the radar screens of most photographers.
In the Spring Yosemite Digital Camera Workshop I’m leading for the Ansel Adams Gallery this week I teach both Photoshop and Lightroom. One of my students asked me recently why she should learn Lightroom when she has Photoshop CS3. What can Lightroom do that Photoshop can’t?
My answer was: very little. Photoshop is the most powerful image-manipulating tool in existence, and can do anything to a photograph that Lightroom can, and much more. But Lightroom has two main advantages over Photoshop: It’s a much better editing, sorting, keywording, and cataloging tool than Photoshop combined with Bridge, and it’s easier to use. And while it’s not as powerful at manipulating photographs as Photoshop, for most images it’s all I need. The image of Mono Lake above, for example, was processed entirely in Lightroom. Having one program that elegantly integrates all these functions takes a lot of friction out of my workflow.
I should point out that I’ve used Photoshop since 1998 and know it inside and out. So I don’t use Lightroom because Photoshop is too complicated for me. But for many people Photoshop is difficult to learn, and Lightroom is a friendlier alternative. I should also add that Lightroom is not for snapshooters. It’s for serious photographers who want an easier, more integrated solution than Photoshop.
There’s one more advantage to Lightroom: It’s a non-destructive editor. Adjustments you make in Lightroom never modify the original Raw or JPEG file. The adjustments are just a set of instructions describing how you want the image to look, and these instructions are only applied when you export the image out of Lightroom. While Photoshop can be tricked into behaving in a non-destructive way, that’s not the way it was designed.
Photoshop is still essential to me for things that Lightroom can’t do. But I’d never want to go back to using only Photoshop and Bridge. And I think Lightroom is a better tool for many photographers than Photoshop. It’s probably time it appeared on more photographer’s radar screens.
by Michael Frye | Apr 15, 2009 | Yosemite Photo Conditions
I’ve heard reports of the first buds appearing on the dogwoods in Yosemite Valley. This puts them on track for their typical blooming period, which usually begins near the end of April and continues through about mid-May. I prefer to photograph them when they first bloom, before the leaves get large enough to obscure the blossoms. You can’t photograph them from behind, as I did in the photograph above, after they’re leafed out. If you miss the show in Yosemite Valley, they bloom about two weeks later at higher elevations, like the Tuolumne Grove of giant sequoias.
Of course the main pursuit for Yosemite photographers in the spring is waterfalls. This is shaping up to be a typical spring, which means the peak flow should arrive around the end of May or beginning of June. Meanwhile the water flow will fluctuate with the weather—the warmer the temperature, the higher the runoff.
Yosemite Falls, the big spring attraction, gets basically terrible light this time of year. But the other big three—Vernal, Nevada, and Bridalveil—are all positioned to receive late-afternoon sunlight. You can find rainbows on all three between about 5 to 7 p.m. depending on your viewpoint. The Mist Trail opened recently, giving access to Vernal and Nevada Falls. The trail is usually crowded, but for good reason—in the spring it has to be one of the world’s most spectacular day hikes.
by Michael Frye | Apr 6, 2009 | Yosemite Photo Conditions
The poppies are mostly gone from the Merced River Canyon, but other flowers have replaced them—although in smaller quantities. Lupine, owl’s clover, and gilia have formed small carpets throughout the canyon, and the redbud are near their peak. I made this photograph of lupine, owl’s clover, and poppies near El Portal on Saturday.
In Yosemite Valley it’s still too early for dogwoods. They usually start blooming near the end of the month. Late April is also when the deciduous trees start leafing out. Cottonwoods, alders, and maples turn bright green, while black oak leaves often appear red or orange when they first appear.
The last few days have been warm, but rain is predicted for tomorrow, with snow possible down to 5000 feet on Wednesday. Another weather system is supposed to arrive Friday. This cooler, wetter weather will temporarily reduce the flow in the waterfalls, but help preserve the snowpack for May and June. It’s too early to tell how this weather might affect the timing of the dogwoods—for now I still expect them to arrive at their usual time in late April. Of course any rain or snow provides opportunities for clearing storm photographs.
by Michael Frye | Mar 27, 2009 | Yosemite Photo Conditions
Last weekend’s storm brought the precipitation total for the season in Yosemite Valley up to 31.35 inches. The average through the end of March is 30.5 inches, so we’re a little above that. It looks like it might be a “typical” spring in Yosemite Valley, which would mean that dogwoods would begin blooming around the end of April, the peak flow in the waterfalls would be around the end of May, and Tioga Pass would open just before Memorial Day. Of course the weather in April will have a big influence on all of that.
The poppies in the Merced River Canyon are finally starting to fade, although there will still be some nice patches around for awhile. Some new flowers are emerging, including lupine and dense groves of tri-colored gilia. The photograph above, including poppies and gilia, was made two days ago along the Hite’s Cove trail.
by Michael Frye | Mar 21, 2009 | Yosemite Photo Conditions
The
National Weather Service is predicting a cold, wintry storm to reach Yosemite tonight and tomorrow. The snow level will be high—7500 to 8000 feet—to start, but it’s expected to drop as low as 3000 feet on Sunday.
A storm like this always provides good photo opportunities, especially as it’s clearing (probably Sunday afternoon or Monday morning). But what will it do to the poppies in the Merced River Canyon?
Overall the poppies still look great. Some of the earliest-blooming spots in the burned area have started to fade, but have been replaced by others. More than replaced actually, as the overall acreage in bloom has expanded. Although the snow level with this storm is unlikely to drop low enough to snow on the flowers, it will still become cold and wet, which might cause some poppies to pack it in for the season. But I don’t expect them all to disappear overnight.
Redbud are also starting to bloom in the Merced River Canyon west of Yosemite. Only a few have reached their peak color, but many more should come out in the next week or so.
The photograph above, Redbud and Oaks, will be one of the raffle prizes at the
Sierra Foothill Conservancy‘s Spring Celebration tomorrow from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. at Michael and Jeanne Adams’ house, 5054 Bullion Street, Mariposa. This should be a really fun event, and supports the great work that the Sierra Foothill Conservancy does, so I hope you can stop by if you’re in the area. For more information email Bridget Fithian: bridget.fithian@hotmail.com.
